Evidently, you all in Canada experienced some similar difficulties to ours. The meat supply that kept up with oversized demand in March and early April suddenly fell short in the second half of April into May. Our local meat cases in Colorado went days with virtually nothing in the way of steaks and roasts. Ground […] Read more
Dittmer: Uncharted waters
Free Market Reflections with Steve Dittmer
Dittmer: R-CALF still considers mCOOL salvation
Free Market Reflections with Steve Dittmer
It is astonishing, really, that R-CALF does not exist in a Communist country, because they seem totally ignorant of free market economics. They do not understand any other segments of a production chain besides themselves but really prefer a command-and-control economy, directed by… themselves, of course. They have not given up on mCOOL, despite a […] Read more
Dittmer: The interplay of politics and economic growth
Free Market Reflections with Steve Dittmer
Economic growth can come from many places and politics can shape it in different ways. A recent article examined the ways immigration has contributed to economic growth in Canada, especially given that much of your immigration is screened to boost productivity. Another column examined how the uproar in Canada uncharacteristically has escaped the borders of […] Read more
Dittmer: Surveying the field of international trade
Free Market Reflections with Steve Dittmer
Okay, the web says Canada is a “constitutional monarchy” with a “Westminster-style parliamentary democracy.” Exactly how do Canadians expect mere Americans to savvy all that? The question occurred to me reading that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and President Donald Trump appear to have the same respect for the rule of law, when it comes to […] Read more
Dittmer: From the Golden Globes to R-CALF
Free Market Reflections with Steve Dittmer
Hollywood’s Golden Globe awards telecast is mostly about movies I haven’t seen and actors I don’t know. But my wife came and got me for something disturbing.The very first award winner, before thanking anyone, thanked the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for making the pre-show dinner all-vegetarian to demonstrate how critical climate change is to the […] Read more
Dittmer: Why the U.S. wants to reform the WTO
Free Market Reflections with Steve Dittmer
Being an export-oriented beef industry and veteran of the mCOOL fiasco, Canadian cattle producers know what the initials WTO stand for (World Trade Organization). The mCOOL deal boldly illustrated one of the major problems with the WTO — it takes forever to get anything resolved. Our joint experience with mCOOL was not the worst example. […] Read more
Dittmer: China back on the plus side
Free Market Reflections with Steve Dittmer
In the last couple of columns I had referred to speculations that China lifting its ban on Canadian beef and pork might be tied to Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou’s preliminary hearings in September or extradition hearings in January. After all, the alleged discovery of ractopamine residues in a shipment of alleged Canadian pork accompanied by […] Read more
Dittmer: Exporting commodities is not always easy
Free Market Reflections with Steve Dittmer
The problems for Canada over Huawei’s Meng situation have grown more complex. The preliminary hearing, which was already scheduled for eight days, has morphed into a multi-week, perhaps multi-month, legal extravaganza. Arguments about possible co-ordination between the U.S. and Canada, possible violation of her legal rights and the possibility of her extradition even being dropped […] Read more
Dittmer: Good news and potential good news
Free Market Reflections with Steve Dittmer
There is good news, possibly good news and more good news if you favour the Conservative party. First, the best good news. Technomic, one of the best and most respected food survey firms in the U.S. also tracks Canadian food trends. It recently released data showing that more Canadians are ordering burgers when they eat […] Read more
Dittmer: Opening trade wars vs. getting the lid back on
Free Market Reflections with Steve Dittmer
Cattle producers have historically fretted at being regulated and taxed by politicians in some distant capitol. I believe Canadian cattle producers agree. Down here in the States, we sometimes ponder giving up on draining the swamp and just adding lots more water. But Canadians actually get a double dose. You not only have to deal with Ottawa […] Read more
Canadian Cattlemen Presents: Depth of Field
